Follow You Until You Love Me
by FOURtwo-Nish
Summary: Chazz/Alexis  Jun/Asuka  He didn't have a camera, he didn't spy behind trees. He didn't try to hurt her when things didn't go his way, but he still chased after her and was still her paparazzi.
1. Cameras

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, and I make no money

FOLLOW YOU UNTIL YOU LOVE ME

-FOURtwo-Nish

He didn't have a camera, he didn't spy behind trees. He didn't try to hurt her when things didn't go his way, but he still chased after her and was still her paparazzi.

NOTE: Spur of the moment writing. I was trying to come up with something cute and then "Paparazzi" by Lady Gaga started playing in my neighbor's place…again. At first I thought "how many times can they play this song in a week?" then I thought "aw, it's kind of like Chazz because he wants Alexis to love him". And so this was born.

(Also, it gets better as you go along, the beginning isn't the best. And don't worry, the OC in this chapter will disappear after this chapter. She is unimportant. Not a MarySue, just a plot-pusher.)

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

They were being permitted to socialize for the last five minutes or so of class, but since there was no one in the class that Chazz particularly wanted to talk to he just sat with his head resting on his hand and stared at the front of the room blankly. People didn't really talk to him anymore. Sure, there were times (when he was dueling) that everyone cheered for him, pretended that they all really cared, but most often they were all apathetic to his existence. It was like his dark clothes made him dark and gave him all of the characteristics of a shadow—no one paid much mind to shadows unless they were scared or sneaking around. So he had been left of peacefully mind his own business for a while before he felt someone tap at his shoulder—and none too lightly.

He turned around irritably, and recollected the face of the Ra Yellow girl that stood there, but her name was lost. Something generic…Kim, Lee, Ann…something… something…what did it matter?

"Chazz?" He grunted in acknowledgement and she continued. "Some of the other students and I were asked to take some photos for next year's enrollment brochure—you know, to hand out to possible applicants—and I was wondering if you'd be willing to be in one."

"Okay," Chazz replied with mild surprise and excitement. Photos weren't something people asked of him anymore…not since he'd lost his stance in Obelisk Blue. "Yeah, sure." The girl whose name might have been Kim...or Ann…smiled slightly.

"Okay! The teacher's asked us to get candid shots, but all of the ones I attempted to take ended up blurry, so I'm staging one. I've got someone else to be in it with you, so if you could come to the front steps of the Academy at twelve thirty—it won't take very long." The other students stood up and began shuffling towards the door as the class period ended—Kim…or was it _Lee_?—started to follow them when Chazz didn't say anything else.

"Hey—Wait!" He called after her when a thought struck his mind. She turned towards him as the onslaught of students forced her towards the door. She looked annoyed. (_Good for her_, Chazz thought. _Typical bait and switch, all polite and kind to get your attention and then SPLAT, she's really not so nice at all_.) "Who is the other person in the photo?" Her face lit up again as she moved farther out the door as he tried to squeeze through at the same time as two other boys. (_She's only acting all happy now because she thinks I'm trying to get out of it._)

"Oh! Alexis! You know—Rhodes?" She didn't wait to hear his reply. As he was shoved out of the door, she disappeared in the crowd. He knew…Rhodes? Of course he knew Alexis Rhodes! Who didn't know Alexis Rhodes? There wasn't another Alexis in the school to mistake for her!

Alexis!

He was going to be in a photo with Alexis! And no one could say it was another stunt by him to "win her love" because _he_ didn't set it up. Even Alexis couldn't be put off by it because he'd said yes before he knew it was her that'd be paired with!

Someone up there really _really_ liked him…and maybe, if it wasn't too much to ask, they'd like him enough so that he could get to class on time…

By the time he awoke from his giddy stupor the hallways were empty.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

He arrived on the steps at the time ordered because he couldn't get away any earlier. At first he thought he was in the wrong place—no one was there—but after seven minutes of suffering, Alexis and Sara (he found out that it was Sara) came out the front doors. Alexis, who Chazz's eyes were immediately drawn to, was carrying in her arms a bundle of blue while Sara carried only her camera.

"Good, you're here," Sara said immediately after her eyes fell onto Chazz.

"We were worried that you might think we changed locations," Alexis said with a friendly smile. It didn't even show her perfect teeth…Chazz felt that she was holding back. "Sorry that it took so long to get here. We were putting this together." She extended the blue bundle that she had been carrying so lovingly out towards him and he accepted it graciously even though she stated immediately after he opened his mouth that he wasn't going to be able to keep it.

"So hurry and put it on so we can give it back." Sara pushed him towards the door, much to his dislike.

"What _is_ 'it'?" Chazz asked, sounding more spiteful than he'd intended. (He couldn't help it—no one was letting him talk and he hadn't even gotten the chance to say "Hello" or even "Hi" to Alexis. What girl would ever love a man that won't even say "Hi" to her upon seeing her?)

"An Obelisk Blue uniform," Sara stated matter-of-factly. "Alexis and I spent most of the day trying to piece it together—borrowing from other boys that are about your size."

"It's important that you look like a student since it's for the brochure," Alexis said, sounding a little uneasy after Chazz failed to respond to Sara's statement. He looked at her the way he always did when she was speaking but, still, he said nothing. It wasn't that he was angry, or sad, he looked a bit surprised…Alexis didn't want to know the exact reason why. "And, after all," she added on to break the silence.

"You're skilled enough to be in Obelisk Blue, anyway, so no one should be offended by it." No one would be offended by it? _Hello_, he used to _be_ in Obelisk Blue…

Alexis read his annoyance through his eyes before Sara even finished speaking. To prevent the simple task of taking a photo from becoming extremely difficult, she felt the need to tack on a statement…even if she hated the words she came up with.

"The blue suits you better anyway," chirped with false happiness. Chazz fell for it—the red in his cheeks expressed that.

Chazz wasted no time in running to the bathroom to change into the colours that he and Alexis _both_ knew suited him better than Red, Yellow, and even black, and did not hesitate to return while still attempting to button his blazer with excited, trembling fingers.

"Good, he's back!" Sara called when Chazz exited the building and met with them once again on the front stairs. "Okay, here's what I want you two to do…" So she ordered them around, had them do various "candid style" photos all of which involved them walking down the stairs. Some Alexis was in the lead, others Chazz, some they walked side by side, in some they were talking—it only took about ten minutes for "the artist to capture the shot she needed". Chazz was both elated and sad to see it end. He could've stayed near Alexis for hours, but the receptiveness of going up the stairs to go back down the stairs to go back up again was becoming nothing short of an annoyance.

"I'll see you in class," Alexis said as she began ascending the stairs for the last time and without the intent to descend them again.

"Yeah," Chazz echoed. "See you." He glanced over at Sara who was going through her camera again (they had all looked over the shots she had taken and decided the best ones for the job) and, judging by the beeps, was deleting those that were no good. "Hey," he called, catching her attention.

"What is it?" She looked back at her camera and continued her task of deletion.

"Could you print off a couple of copies of the picture you decide to use? You know, in case I need it…or something." She looked back up at him and he kept his face blank so that she couldn't read him. Sara stared at him for a moment and then back at her camera. The beeping resumed.

"Sure. No problem." Chazz found himself inwardly seething…you should look at someone when he's talking to you.

"Thanks," he said casually, as if he didn't really care if he got the copies or not, and walked back up the stairs towards the building. The span of time it took for him to return to the bathroom where he had left his clothes in a moment of uncertainty as to where else they could be left was a great deal longer than his bolt from it…knowing that Alexis wasn't waiting for him in there—though it was a keen fantasy… …—was a contributing factor, but he was also relishing his time spent in his old colors. He felt like someone else when he wore the blue uniform. He felt empowered, important even. If he ever wore the Slifer Red uniform that was expected of him, he'd probably die from the depression derived from being at the very bottom.

He was better than them…better than that…Alexis had said so herself. The blue of Obelisk suited him the best.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Sara had gotten the copies of the photo she'd selected to him just before dinner. He handed her back the uniform she and Alexis had pieced together for him from various other students—only after he'd taken it off did he wonder if the uniforms were even clean—and that was the end of their confrontation. When she wasn't asking for something, she wasn't very friendly.

Being careful not to bend the square, cropped photo of him and Alexis "caught" talking together while descending the stairs of Duel Academy, he placed them in his pocket and went to dinner, ate with a less-than-average appetite, and then returned to his dorm as soon as he could. He grabbed for his PDA and sent a message to Alexis, a typed one since he didn't think he could film a clip without blushing or getting tongue tied, and waited for her reply.

_She gave me copies of the photo she picked. Do you want one?_

Waited…Waited…Waited…She was probably eating and talking with her friends. She was always delicate when she ate, so proper…never talking with her mouth full, never eating too slow or too fast, never pulling one of those anorexic tricks of two bites and "I just can't eat any more". Alexis was perfect…but if she wasn't, maybe she _did_ eat too fast and a speck of rice was on the side of her mouth and she didn't know…If _he_ was there he'd brush it away for her before anyone else could see. And she'd say…

The PDA beeped before the fantasy Alexis could say anything because real Alexis had something to say instead…about a real conversation….he was more interested in her fantasy one, but reality was all he was going to get.

_OK. Give it to me tomorrow in class._

Chazz frowned.

_Can I give it to you sooner? I don't want Jaden to damage it._

After speaking of the idea, it actually donned on him that it was a possibility. In all honesty, he just wanted to see Alexis sooner—who wouldn't? If he was more manipulative, he would have made the picture come at a price…but it wasn't really his photo and he doubted that Alexis would go for anything like that. She'd just say something cold, but still polite. "Actually, I think I'll just wait for the brochure to come out. That way no one asks why I have a photo of myself with _you_." Chazz felt a stabbing pain in his chest and checked his PDA. Alexis wasn't _that_ cold, but what if that's what she was _thinking?_

_Good point. Meet me at the gate to the girl's dorm in ten minutes?_

Ouch, a public place with many spectators. Did she not trust him or something?

He shook the thought away. She probably just didn't want to take a walk right after eating. Didn't that give you cramps or something?...no, that's swimming…but girls get cramps easily, don't they? Or is that only when they're… … ew, Chazz didn't even want to think about it.

_Sure. I'll be there._

_OK. See you soon._

See you soon? That sounded so adorable! Like she was eager to see him! She _had_ to be! If she wasn't looking forward to his visit she would have left it at "OK." He felt his spirits rise and a smile curled onto his lips as he pulled the photos out of his pocket and looked over the copy that he would keep. It was a good photo—Alexis was smiling, her hair was swaying, her eyes were lit up, and she was looking at _him_ not the camera…

He felt the stab of pain in his chest again when he looked at it that way. When he was in _that_ uniform he fit with her. He was just as good as her…but now he didn't even belong to a dorm. (He did NOT belong in Slifer—technicality or no!) Why would someone as beautiful and perfect in every way as her ever want to be with someone like…

_Do you want to meet by the beach instead? There's a practice duel going on by the gate._

Of _course_ there was. It was obviously a lie…she just wanted to be alone with him. The thought made him smile.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

He arrived at the beach running and Alexis was already there, looking beautiful against the sun that was just starting to set. It wasn't the stereotypical movie night sunset with a clear sky and the delicately crashing waves—it was kind of overcast and the waves were just barely lapping at the sand. The poor setting just made Alexis look that much more beautiful…one day, he knew, that beauty would fade, but he felt that he'd still love her. It wasn't just her face and her figure he loved…it was everything else too.

"Sorry I made you wait," Chazz said when she turned and saw him standing there, trying to catch his breath. "I didn't know you'd left when you told me there was a duel outside."

"It's okay," Alexis said with a friendly smile. "So, did she pick a good photo?" She left the shore to approach Chazz, but he hurried to meet her before she walked too far.

"I think so," Chazz stammered as he pulled the photo out of his pocket. He'd made sure it didn't get bent or creased and was proud to say it looked exactly as it had when Sara had given it to him. Alexis took it from him with curious eyes and looked it over analytically, her brow even furrowing as if there was something she didn't like… "Something wrong?" He asked her, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice.

Snapping back to attention, her brow relaxed and she smiled softly instead.

"Nothing really," she stated. "You just look better in the Obelisk uniform than you do in that." She made a gesture to his current, saturated colored outfit and he frowned. "So you need to work hard so that you can get back into Obelisk Blue."

"I'm working on it," Chazz answered, looking over her shoulder momentarily and then back at her eyes. She looked displeased with his answer and he felt like saying something about missing sharing a status with her, but fought it back in fear of her interpreting it the wrong way.

He glanced down at the photo she was holding with a lot less affection than he held onto his and then back up at her, trying not to let his eyes trace their way up to her face like they wanted. Alexis would get upset if she caught his eyes hesitating…

"I agreed to do it before she said you were in it," he said firmly. She squinted her eyes with confusion and then scratched her head with her free hand.

"Chazz, I don't think—"

"I didn't do it because I love you and thought it would be a cheap way to get a picture of you…or anything." He regretted it after speaking, but kept it from showing on his face. Just by saying it, didn't that make him sound guilty? But he was afraid that she'd come up with that idea on her own and believe that it was true…he had to deny it, even if she didn't believe him. At least _he_ knew that he was being honest…eventually she, too, would catch on, right? "I didn't know you were in it when I agreed."

"I know," Alexis said firmly. "I suggested you to her." Chazz felt his face burn and let his eyes drop to the ground, too flustered to make contact with hers. "She wanted to have Jaden in it, but I told her that it would be a disaster. He'd try to pose or something and it would ruin the entire 'candid' idea." She said more, but all Chazz could hear was his own voice echoing that _she_ chose _him _over _Jaden_. Over Jaden! That made him the best man for the job! That made him number one! "Right?"

Chazz froze up. Alexis had asked him a question and he'd missed it. He couldn't just say "yes". What if she'd said "the camera really does add ten pounds" and was talking about herself? (Or was that just for tv?)

"I'm sorry. What?" She laughed slightly, almost nervously.

"I said that you seemed happier in Obelisk Blue than you do now." The sullen look that her face took on made him feel guilty. _I should have been listening—now she thinks I'm mad at her._

"Well yeah," he stated. "I was a winner then." Alexis frowned and he bit his lower lip hard. He didn't know if he'd ever said anything stupider in his life given the context of their conversation.

"But I like you better now, Chazz," she said. And he could tell by her tone that by "like" she didn't mean "love". She'd said it with a harsh tone on purpose. At least she didn't lead him on, he thought. He liked knowing how she was feeling. "You're living on the same planet as the rest of us." She offered him a smile, but he could only lift the left side of his mouth to imitate the gesture for half a second.

Chazz thought of a lot of things he could say, but kept them to himself because they all sounded stupid…stupider than what he'd said before that got him into this mess. "I love you." Out of context… "I _was _happier." That sounded spiteful. "Well, since we're both living on earth, that makes it easier to fall in love" No…that wouldn't help make the situation less awkward.

"It's a good photo though," Alexis said uncomfortably, looking at the picture again.

"Yeah," Chazz mumbled, envisioning it in his mind because they way she held it prevented him from seeing it. "You look good in it. You know…not like the candid shots of celebrities in magazines…" She smiled and he felt the momentary tension ebb. Alexis's smile made everything better…it always had, and he had that smile preserved forever in that photo.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Love, FOURtwo-nish


	2. Trees

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, and I make no money

FOLLOW YOU UNTIL YOU LOVE ME

-FOURtwo-Nish

He didn't have a camera, he didn't spy behind trees. He didn't try to hurt her when things didn't go his way, but he still chased after her and was still her paparazzi.

NOTE: Starts faster than the previous chapter and should be better liked on the account that there are no OCs. Sorry about her in the last one, but I needed a plot-pusher and none of the other characters fit the bill.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

It had been over a week since the photo that Chazz had stared in with Alexis, and things seemed to have frozen in a monotonous place. Every day was a replica of the day before. Get up, eat, go to class, go to lunch, talk to people (Alexis), be talked at (Jaden), go to class, go to dinner, go for a walk, go to bed, get up and do it all over again the next day. The only thing that made the repetition bearable was that Alexis was talking to him almost daily now—she didn't try to avoid him if he approached her (probably, he assumed, because he wasn't trying to tell her about how he felt anymore…she got it.) and she'd even approached him on her own and asked him a question. It had just been a question about class and a note she had missed, but she had gone to _him_ instead of anyone else.

That had to mean something.

However, his mind grew restless in the evenings and he found himself wandering around the campus before the time came to return to his dorm to sleep. Most of the other students were having practice duels or congregating with friends. Chazz didn't care to waste time dueling for no reason and the only person who readily talked to him was Jaden…and he really didn't want to talk with Jaden—he never had anything new to say.

So, instead of being sociable, Chazz slipped away like the recluse that he was when Jaden was busying himself with something else. Sometimes he went into the building, sometimes he went towards the shore and just watched the waves for a while, and other times he found himself walking in large circles within the woods. That was where he ended up on Friday, just wandering around in a large circle with his mind doting on unimportant things like the homework he had due later, schemes of how to dead end the conversations Jaden attempted to start with him and, occasionally, if tomorrow was going to be any different than today.

He pitched a sigh when he saw the path leading back to the dorms cut across the woods in front of him and stopped. It had grown dark, but enough light still shone to illuminate the edges of the trees and the rocky path. If he kept going, he decided, it would only grow darker and it was highly probable that he'd end up disoriented, but he wasn't tired and didn't care to return to the dorms. He continued forward and stepped onto the path, preparing to follow it downwards to the shore. He'd rest there for a while and then go back when the time was right.

He trudged on, occasionally looking up at the sky where the stars had begun to show, and listened to the sound of the waves crashing against the shore. The peaceful sound worked like a narcotic, relaxing and soothing him as he drew nearer. He found himself feeling drowsy, but pulled awake instantly when the sound of the waves became overpowered by the sound of footsteps crunching on the rocks of the path behind him.

He submerged himself amongst the trees and was prepared to wait until whoever it was passed by and then find someplace else along the beach to go after discovering where his "companion" decided to stop. There was definitely enough shore on the island to share with one other person, and while whoever it was was preoccupied with the water Chazz knew that he could easily pass him or her without being perceived.

So Chazz waited as the crunching steps grew louder and the form of the approaching student came into view. Chazz felt himself choke on the breath he'd taken in and faltered backwards. It couldn't be! But that figure was unmistakable.

Alexis.

He felt his heart flutter and his cheeks burn. If he had kept wandering in circles through the woods he would have missed her! He wouldn't have been able to observe her as she gracefully walked down the path towards the ocean. He would have been stepping over debris and kicking himself free of snaring vines instead of being entranced by her severe beauty.

She passed by without picking up on his presence which left Chazz puzzled. Alexis always seemed the type to be aware of everything in her surroundings. Even if he was the only one who could hear his pounding heart, couldn't she hear how he struggled to breathe?

He didn't have the self-control to avoid her and, once she had passed by and disappeared out of sight, Chazz continued down the path, trying to calm himself and think of what he would say. (Of course he was going to join her! It was the perfect opportunity! As long as he played his cards right, it would make for a romantic moment!) These ideas goaded him until the beach came into view where Alexis stood with her usual rigid posture. The air tousled her hair slightly, but not enough for it to look like a romantic movie scene.

It was that that thought that brought Chazz back to earth. Alexis wasn't like the movies. She wasn't swooned by affection or gifts or anything like that. She didn't…love him back? He hated the very thought of it and it compelled him to drift back into the woods where he could observe her from a distance without being spotted.

She looked so at ease—her posture relaxed, her body being outlined by the moon's glow and the faint final traces of the sunset. She was so beautiful, it was impossible for any boy not to notice. So beautiful, so smart, so strong willed, so focused…there was no end to her perfection. Her only flaw was that she was crazy—she had to be! How else could she resist The Chazz?

He watched her shoulders move as she sighed and found himself sighing with her. He stepped closer to the edge of the woods, being careful not to step upon anything that would crack or make himself known. He glanced at his foot for a moment, trying to make out if what he was stepping on was a vine or a branch, and when he looked back up Alexis had turned her head—looking over her shoulder at the forest.

Chazz gasped soundlessly and whipped behind the tree on his left, hoping that he hadn't been seen but feeling certain that he had. He leaned against the trunk and pressed his closed fist against his chest as he caught his breath and waited for his heart to cease pounding. He didn't dare to look to see if he'd been spotted or if Alexis had been looking at something else…like the stars or a planet or something. It's not like he could see her eyes, she was just turned in his general directions, her face a black smudge.

Shadows shouldn't dare to cast darkness over a face like hers…Chazz jotted down the thought in the notebook of his mind and reminded himself to say that to her someday.

Slowly, his heart returned to a semi-ordinary beat and he dared to glimpse at her again. Her attention was back on the water, her head turning occasionally to survey it from side to side. Then she stared to turn her head back again and he pulled away.

He growled in quiet frustration and shook his head. This wasn't getting him anywhere. What the heck was he doing hiding behind a tree like a repulsive peeping tom?

He took a deep breath and dislodged himself from the forest, making sure to snap a branch to let Alexis know, for certain, that he was there. She turned back towards him and then raised a hand in the air in a greeting gesture.

"Hey, Chazz!" She called, sounding friendly which eased some of the pressure off of him as he drew nearer. She didn't sound upset about having her solitude intruded upon.

"Hey, Alexis," he managed to say, smiling inwardly. He had managed to say a greeting to her upon seeing her this time.

"What are you doing out here?" She said this politely, smiling at him. He hoped that the darkness hid the blush that he felt growing darker.

"Same as you, I guess," he said with a slightly shaking voice. He hated how foolish he had to look. Blushing, stammering, probably even trembling... Why did she have the power to make him so nervous when no body else did?

"I just wanted a little bit of time to myself," Alexis said, looking back out at the water. "It's usually pretty peaceful here."

"Oh," Chazz stated softly. "I could go away, you know…if you want me to." _That_ was why he was hiding behind the tree like a peeping tom…she couldn't tell him to go away if she wasn't sure that he was there.

Alexis turned back to him quickly, her hair swaying elegantly.

"You don't have to!" Alexis insisted. She sounded so sincere that Chazz felt his heart skip a beat. "I mean, I was wondering when you were going to show yourself. If I wanted you to go away I would have gone somewhere else."

So she _had_ seen him…or sensed him…there really were no faults with Alexis.

"Sorry," Chazz said, looking away before Alexis's face could become contorted with confusion. "You can tell me if you want to be alone. I'll go." Maybe, by showing that he was willing to give her her space, she'd like him more.

"You don't have to, Chazz," Alexis said sternly. Plan: backfired. Alexis sounded angry.

"Fine," he said, pulling back his normal persona. "I'll stay. But only because you asked me to." He smirked and she rolled her eyes in that adorable way that she did when she got mad. She didn't say anything else though. She just looked out at the water and Chazz, not wanting to look like a creep by staring at her, looked out at it also. The dark waters licked at the beach lazily, slowly, sleepily…he had to do something or else he was going to be lulled to sleep and look like a fool when he fell over onto the beach—and with Alexis standing right there as a witness.

Drowsily, but not drunkenly, Chazz stepped towards the water, attracting Alexis's attention, and knelt down in the sand less than a foot away from the sleepy, lapping waves.

"What are you doing?" Alexis asked, watching as he placed the tip of his finger against the surface of the rushing water.

"The ocean, it touches every continent, right?" He looked at her, able to see her face in the moon's glow.

"Yeah…" Alexis drawled. "Where are you going with this?" She moved to his side and knelt down also. Chazz felt himself become flustered, but swallowed back the heart that had risen in his throat.

"So…if you touch the ocean, aren't _you _touching every continent too?" Alexis looked at his eyes which shined with a sort of contentedness and sadness at the same time and then at his finger on the water.

"Yeah," she said, her face breaking into a smile. "I guess you are." Then, she, too, extended her arm and placed the tips of her index and ring fingers in the cool water. She remained that way for over a minute, Chazz found himself counting her breaths instead of the seconds, but he was sure that the span had been long, and then pulled her hand away and stood up. He retracted his hand as well, but stayed kneeling. "Feeling philosophical tonight?" She asked with a laugh. "I never thought of that before."

"I thought of it when I was kid when I was on vacation with my parents and my brothers." Alexis hummed sullenly. "I would rather have been anywhere else but on that island and I thought about how the ocean touches 'everywhere' and thought that, maybe…I don't know…It was a long time ago." He shook the words away before he could make a fool of himself by saying them.

"You don't _know_?" Alexis asked, sounding playful.

"Well, I _do_," Chazz said, looking out at the water and then towards her.

"Then tell me. You can't just start a story and not end it. It isn't fair." She offered him a smile, but he was still reluctant to speak and she read it in his face and frowned. "You thought, back then, that maybe a portal would open up and you'd disappear off the island and turn up someplace else?" Chazz found himself smiling faintly and looked away.

"Yeah, something like that."

"You don't have to be ashamed of it," Alexis said, noting his distant expression. "Your brothers seem kind of…brutal." Chazz didn't say anything. "It's getting late," she added after a time. "I think I'm going to head back. Are you going to stay here?" Chazz shook awake from his stupor and glanced at her, attempting not to become fixated and stare.

"Yes," he managed to say. He'd thought of more to say after that, but he couldn't get his tongue to move right.

"Oh." She sounded surprised. "Alright, but I thought that we could walk back together since it _is_ getting dark." Her tone suggested that she feared he would get himself lost, but Chazz found comfort in the thought that she was asking him for protection. The thought made him practically giddy. So giddy, in fact, that he didn't notice the look of disconcertion on her shadow-blackened face as his twisted into some sort of smile.

"I guess I could go back now," Chazz said, trying to stifle his bliss and failing dismally. "Since it _is_ getting dark and it's not safe for a girl to walk at night without an escort." Alexis said something like "That's not what I meant", but Chazz wasn't listening and the two of them had already begun their walk back.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Love, FOURtwo-nish


	3. Hurt

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, and I make no money

FOLLOW YOU UNTIL YOU LOVE ME

-FOURtwo-Nish

He didn't have a camera, he didn't spy behind trees. He didn't try to hurt her when things didn't go his way, but he still chased after her and was still her paparazzi.

NOTE: Sorry for the delay in posting. It took me a long time to beta it, and then I forgot I'd finished it.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Jaden was throwing a party. Chazz wanted to gag. It wasn't that Chazz hated parties in general, he just didn't like the fact that a party meant planning—planning meant Jaden had an infinite amount of new things to talk about over and over until they became old things…really, really _old_ things.

"So, Chazz, you gonna come or what?" It had to have been the thirtieth time Jaden had asked him that. And what had his reply been every single time?

"No! I told you a thousand times, I'm not going to your stupid party!" Chazz rushed down the hallway, trying to escape from Jaden who was literally jogging at his side.

"Not even if we have our own mini tournament?" Jaden asked, almost tauntingly.

"No," Chazz responded bluntly. Why did he need to duel if there was nothing up for grabs? It was just a waste of time…even if he knew that he had nothing better to do than wander around campus and think.

"Not even if Taka makes his famous fish fry?"

"Who?" Chazz inquired indifferently. "And with what _fish_?"

"Okay, I lied about that one," Jaden commented, still racing to keep up with Chazz who was practically running by that point. "Not even if we play truth or _dare_?" Jaden drawled the phrase as if he thought it would be the thing to tip the odds in his favor.

"No!"

"Aw, Chazz, don't be a party-pooper!"

"I have better things to do than waste my time with you and a bunch of other slackers," Chazz hissed. Jaden still pursued him.

"Come on, Chazz, we both know you don't have anything else to do!" Chazz growled at him.

"I said no! I'm not going to your party and that's the end of it!" Chazz had screamed this and people were staring, but the raven-haired teen didn't care anymore. Jaden remained blissfully undeterred.

"Not even if _Alexis_ is there?"

"Not even if—Alexis?" Chazz was simultaneously embarrassed and shocked. He was embarrassed that, after a good two weeks of keeping his romance in his own mind—even going so far as to give Alexis a bit of the cold shoulder to see if the 'hard to get' ploy would attract her, he found himself flustered at the mention of his crush's name. More than embarrassment, he felt shock and horror.

What was Alexis thinking, going to a party and associating herself with a bunch of slackers like Jaden and his stupid friends? She was too good to be seen with them!

But Alexis was friends with Jaden…that was one of her many virtues. She saw herself being above no one…not even Jaden or his puny friend Syrus…

"Yeah, I asked Alexis last week if she wanted to come and she said she'd think about it—I think that means yes!" Jaden laughed heartily to himself and Chazz felt his face twist into a snarl.

"You _think?_ You mean you haven't asked her over and over and over like you did me?"

"Well, duh. Alexis has other things on her mind—if I bother her too much she might fall behind in something and have to miss the party because she's too busy catching up." Chazz growled, but knew there was no point arguing.

"If the party's tonight, don't you think you should ask her if she's coming to so you have time to set things up for her?"

"Set things up for her? Chazz, she's a girl, she can't stay the night in the dorms!"

"That's not what I meant!" Chazz exclaimed. In his mind, he could just see Alexis, trapped by all of those slackers. If she went to that party, he _had_ to go. Someone needed to protect her from Jaden's ignorance and all of those other boys. Jaden's room was filthy—Alexis couldn't be expected to find a place to sit in that filth! And there were roaches in the Slifer dorms…how could Jaden expect her to even visit such an unsanitary place?

That meant that…despite how much Chazz wanted to spend time with Alexis and how great of an opportunity Jaden's party was to do just that, Chazz was obliged—as a man—to do everything in his power to prevent Alexis—a fair lady—from being engulfed is such filth.

"Tell you what, Jaden," Chazz began, ignoring the dent in his pride as he reverted to his old, obsessive habits. "How about I go and see if Alexis is going to come for you so you have more time to set up for truth or dare?" Jaden beamed ignorantly.

"Gee, thanks, Chazz! That'd be great!" After that, it took no time at all for Chazz to be rid of Jaden, and for his mind to be consumed with ideas to keep Alexis away from that unsanitary barn.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Chazz had sent Alexis a message on his PDA to discover where the girl was in hopes of having a face-to-face conversation with her. Alexis seemed determined to keep that from happening. In the end, Chazz had to give up on the idea and simply asked her, on Jaden's behalf, if she'd decided whether or not to attend the party.

Her reply?

_Oh, that's right. His party IS tonight, isn't it?_

Chazz had assured her that it was and felt his heart sink.

_I won't stay for very long, but I think I'll go. What about you?_

He wanted to beg her, for her own safety, not to go, but it didn't seem appropriate to argue with her so he gave in. Maybe he could convince her on her way in not to stay longer than it took to say hello. He felt the conversation would be easier face-to-face…You can't be hung up on or ignored when you're standing right there.

_Yeah, I'm going._

_Guess I'll see you there?_

_It's right after dinner in his room. You should eat before you go._

Thought Jaden kept preaching of the food that was supposed to be there, Chazz would rather she ate something healthy and uninfected than the probable garbage that Jaden would provide…that slacker knew nothing about the delicate appetites of ladies...

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Chazz actually felt like he could cry. _Could_ was the key, he wasn't about to nor prepared to, but he most definitely felt like it was a possibility.

Everything had gone all wrong…

Little pieces of his and Alexis's argument kept coming back to him and haunting him. He felt like such an idiot, and yet he felt so mad…mad at _her_. She just didn't understand him…He hadn't meant to insult her or to act as if he "owned her"; he was just worried about her.

Chazz had managed to get Alexis to allow him to walk her to the dorms, but that was where all of the good feelings had vanished. Everything seemed to turn sour the instant he opened his mouth, all because she mistook the tone of his voice.

"I really don't think you should go," he'd forced out. He'd meant it to sound conversational—he couldn't remember, but it was plausible to believe that he'd intended for her to roll her eyes in the cute way that she did and ignore him or expect her to simply ask "why not". But neither of those things had happened.

She'd gotten angry and tore him apart, piece by piece until he felt ashamed and vulnerable. At least she'd stopped before she'd finished the sentence that he knew was on her tongue. She hadn't said it, but he'd known what she'd intended to say…she hadn't said it.

Somehow, that made it better.

Somehow, not hearing her say "How could you ever expect _anyone_ to love you if you act like that?" was relieving.

He was pleased with how he'd controlled himself, though. When she'd spat her words at him with venom, he was silent. He let her say what she'd needed to say…what she wanted to express, and left it at that.

Part of him wanted to snap at her and say she was acting out of turn—that she should be glad he cared enough about her to warn her about the trash Jaden called food, but he said nothing.

The last thing he wanted was to yell at a woman like her. She was tough, but that didn't make it okay to shout at her or to try to hurt her.

He loved her. Everyone knows that you don't try to hurt the people you love. Not to prove a point…not for anything.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Love, FOURtwo-nish


End file.
